The Impact of a Canon
by InkySwear
Summary: Based off of the GBA games FoMT and MFoMT, this story revolves around Jack and Claire, two farmers who live in Mineral Town. Though both have lives of their own, what happens when their pasts catch up with them and tie them together?
1. Chapter 1

Spring was coming. Already the winter snows were starting to melt, and the gradual change from gloomy grey to bright green landscapes was occurring in Mineral Town. It was Winter 29, and the town was all a bustle with activity for the upcoming New Year Celebration.

That Saturday night found Jack sitting at his customary table in the corner of Doug's Inn. He had a cup of wine in front of him, and was sipping it as he glanced around at his fellow people in the bar. All were good friends, the people he had grown to care for in his two years of living in the friendly town. As he scanned the heads at the tables around him, he spotted Doctor Trent and Elli at one of the tables and grinned. Elli was looking down at the table blushing furiously while Trent gazed at her with a fondness he was evidently trying to hide from anyone but her. He was saying something to her quietly, so that Jack had no chance of hearing what was being said. He saw Elli give a slight smile as she took a shy sip of her lemonade. Jack knew that the two had spent the Starry Night Festival together, just the past Monday, and they had been the talk of the town (or at least of Manna, the mistress of the winery) ever since. When he looked at Gray, the capped young man in the other corner of the dining area, he lifted his hand in greeting. Gray gave him a lopsided grin and nodded at Jack.

The inn was alive with activity, and it seemed as if most of the town was gathered there. Jack laughed when he saw Duke's hands rising triumphantly, his face covered to the chin in fruity pie filling. Karen, slumped in the chair next to him, patted her full stomach and laughed at him, being a good-natured loser in their pie eating contest. Doug was talking to Barley at the counter, exchanging stories and jokes with the old man. Everyone seemed happy.

Well, not quite everyone. Looking around more, he noticed Cliff at a table near the stairs, looking at Ann's back. The redhead, rather than exchanging glances with the wanderer as she so often did, was rushing around to the various tables, picking up plates and cups with her natural smile—and ignoring Cliff entirely. Her eyes turned stone cold whenever she turned away from her customers. It was obvious Cliff was trying to get Ann's attention. He watched as Cliff, exasperated, threw up his hands and trudged up the stairs to his room.

Concerned, Jack got up and started to follow Cliff to his room, when he passed close by the table at which Mayor Thomas and his son Harris were sitting. Giving them a nod, he walked casually past their table, not wanting more intrusions than necessary while he spoke with Cliff. The Mayor nodded back, his voluminous mustache waving like a tree branch in the wind as he did so. Going back to his conversation with Harris, Jack heard Thomas say, "Yes, as I was saying, there's a new farmer coming. A girl farmer. She called this morning, and her voice was much too chipper for my liking, especially at _that_ hour of the day." Here, the mayor adopted a high pitched imitation of what the girl had sounded like. "'MT Realtor?' she says, 'Hi! This is Claire Canon,'" Jack froze mid-step, "'and I was wondering if I could procure that empty lot you have near town? I'd be ready to come as soon as—'"

The mayor was interrupted by a hand slapping quickly down on the table, as Jack had rushed over, grabbed the edge of the table, and slapped the surface down with his other hand to prevent it from toppling over. Both Harris and Thomas looked up, startled at the antics of the usually good-natured farmer. Right now, it was evident that the man was flustered.

"_What_ was that name you said?" Jack demanded. The mayor spluttered nonsense as he tried to get his tongue around his words. "The name of the girl, you bumbling idiot! The new farmer girl! What's her name?!"

Somewhat taken aback, the mayor stuttered, "C-c-Claire Canon?" Thomas looked around to the others in the inn, and shrugged as he met the questioning eyes of Basil.

Jack's eyes widened and he stepped back from the table. He rocked back on his heels and whistled. "Claire Canon…" he said quietly to himself. He looked back up at the mayor and the constable, who were both staring at him as if he were out of his mind. "Well, thanks," he said, as if he hadn't even acted so demanding and urgent. He turned toward the stairs again, continuing on his way. At the bottom step, he turned back to the pair, who was still staring at him. "Oh, and sorry for calling you a bumbling idiot, Mr. Mayor. Got a little out of hand." With a grin and a salute, Jack walked up the stairs.

--

Jack knocked quietly on the door of the far right room on the upper floor. He heard some shuffling inside the room, and then Cliff opened the door, poking his head around the door to see who it was.

"Oh, hey, Jack. What do you need?" Cliff's voice was hollow.

"Do you mind if I come in? I kind of want to get away from the crowd." Cliff nodded silently and opened the door wider. Stepping in, Jack noticed nothing amiss about the room. It was totally clean, and the sheets on the bed were not tousled at all. Cliff had been alone in the room.

Now, the ponytail-ed man had shut the door and slumped against the wall by the window, simply staring at the room. His eyes lingered on each piece of furniture in the room, from the bed to the nightstand to the floor. Jack moved to sit on the bed, but Cliff let out a small gasp of protest. "No, please don't…" Jack looked at him questioningly, but sat in one of the chairs anyway.

"She fixed them up, cleaned them… I don't want to ruin her hard work already when I'm not even going to use the bed for a while…" Cliff mumbled. Jack didn't need to be a rocket scientist to deduce who Cliff meant by "she". He had needed but one look at Cliff and Ann when he came to Mineral Town to know that they would be, if they hadn't been already, together. He had first noticed them when he had walked into this very room, his first day in town. Ann had just gone in to have a conversation with Cliff, and had accidentally hit a sore spot in Cliff's past. Jack smiled as he remembered Ann's blush when Cliff had thanked her for talking to him as she had walked away, embarrassed.

Remembering what had happened downstairs, Jack cleared his throat. Cliff lifted his head at the sound. "Cliff, is something the matter with you and Ann? I noticed that you guys didn't seem on the… friendliest of terms down there."

A red tinge colored Cliff's face. "Oh, well… we just had a little… disagreement." After some silence on Jack's part, Cliff finally explained. "See… I told her how I might not be able to stay after next year. Come next Winter, I might not have enough money to afford living here, you know? So yeah, after I told her that, she was really sweet about it and offered free room and board and things… but I can't do that to her! Think of what she and her dad would be missing just because I wasn't paying for my room and food! I tell her that, and she keeps trying to convince me to take her offer, but I, being the stubborn idiot I am—well, with good reason—keep on saying no, so now she's mad at me because of it."

Jack gave a low whistle. "Hard stuff," he said. Cliff nodded in agreement.

"It's not like I want to leave her, I mean," Cliff looked up quickly and corrected himself, "I mean, I don't want to leave the town and all of you, but it's like… I feel like I don't have a choice."

After a few minutes of companionable silence, Cliff ventured in a few words. "So, uh, hey, what's up? Anything new with you?"

"Ah, well," Jack hesitated, but continued anyway, "actually, yeah. I just heard there was going to be a new farmer coming. I overheard Thomas and Harris talking about it."

Cliff nodded. "Yeah, I heard that, too. Should be pretty cool, meeting another person. I wonder what he'll be like…"

"Actually, it's a girl. The empty farm is going to a girl." Jack was mumbling, and he knew it. Although he didn't mean it, Jack sounded like a sullen little boy who didn't get his way. Cliff smirked, thinking that Jack was resentful of a little competition.

He didn't know how wrong he was. The reasons Jack had for his mood were far from the question of competition. After another bout of silence, Jack stood up, gave Cliff a "Fare-thee-well" and strolled out of the room and into the night. He had a lot to ponder.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire stood gazing at the tiny, run-down house that stood at the corner of her land. _Her land_. How good it felt to be able to say that, to be able to have something that was really and truly hers. She paid no mind to the field, which was cluttered with weeds, only taking in the fact that it belonged to her.

She loved the feeling.

She looked up, and was only mildly surprised when she saw a young man, possibly around her age, watching her from the entrance of her farm, under the sign that had been newly painted with the words "Canon Farm". He was at least five inches taller than her own height of five feet six inches, and his handsome face was somewhat shadowed by his bright hat, which was covering his messy brown hair. She smiled slightly, and walked over to the solitary figure.

"Hello! I'm Claire Canon, the new farmer here. Who are you?" She stuck out her hand to shake his.

Hesitating, Jack carefully shook her hand, and let go quickly, but not so quickly as to be awkward. Claire was a very pretty girl, her long golden hair running straight down to the middle of her back, and her big, grey-blue eyes made him feel as if he were floating in a rainstorm. He'd been caught in that storm once before, a very long time ago. He spoke quickly. "Hey, I'm Jack. I'm another farmer here; my farm is down the road and to the left." He pointed as he spoke. "Thomas sent me here to show you the ropes… He's the mayor of Mineral Town, and normally it would be him standing here instead of me, but he couldn't come here because, well," Jack chuckled, "he had a bit too much fun at the New Year's Celebration yesterday."

Claire smiled tentatively. Jack seemed friendly, and somehow she felt as if she'd known him for a while already. She wasn't sure about the feeling, chose to be careful with it, and only nodded. Still, when she looked at him, she felt as if she'd seen him before, but nothing in her memory matched up to this tall young man. Shrugging inwardly, she looked down at the ground.

After they had stood there for about 30 seconds in an awkward silence, Jack continued. "So, yeah. Pretty much all you need to do is take care of your farm however you want to. There are tools in the tool box in your house for you to use, but they're in pretty rough shape, so once you get used to them you'll want those upgraded. Gray and Saibara can do that for you—they run the blacksmith's shop down the road. You can collect the stuff on the mountain and sell that in the shipment box. Zack will come by every day around 5 to pick that up, so try to have everything you want to sell for that day on time. If you need anything else, just go around town. They have all you'd need, and it doesn't take a lot to go around and say, 'Hi,' to the people you'll be living nearby. And that's pretty much...it…" Jack's voice trailed off as Claire flashed him a beaming smile, her eyes alight with joy. She clapped her hands together and nodded briskly at Jack.

"Thanks! I appreciate your help a lot." She laughed then. Inwardly, she laughed some more as Jack smiled uncertainly, knowing that he was unsure if she was being sarcastic or not. She knew that her cheerfulness took some people aback, but even so, she enjoyed herself. "I think I can take it from here, though. I remember a long time ago I think I—What? Is there something on my face?" she interrupted herself at the look Jack was giving her. He was staring at her, somewhat expressionless. His eyes seemed glazed over. Claire patted her face self-consciously, and wondered what was wrong with her fellow farmer.

Jack shook himself and said, "Ah, what? Oh, no, it's nothing like that. It's just… well, you remind me of something that happened when… Actually, no. Nevermind. It's just one of those things…"

Claire laughed at his reaction. "One of what things?" she asked, curious.

"Well, you know. One of those things where you remember something, but… aren't sure if the other person would be able to relate to what you're saying."

Claire nodded understandingly. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She'd had that issue with members of her family before, namely her grandfather. They hadn't always seen eye-to-eye, and she was disappointed when she found that he didn't trust her as much as she wanted him to. She had wanted to ask him questions, but wasn't sure on how he would take them, whether he would accept her curiosity.

And now, well, let's just say it was far past time to ask.

"Well, alright then," Claire said resignedly. She looked up at Jack and smiled. "Thanks though, really. It was really nice of you to come and give me some welcome. It makes me look forward to living here more, you know?"

Jack smiled crookedly. "Hey, it's no problem. Glad to help a neighbor. But I have to go now, tending to my own farm, you know?" Claire nodded and smiled. "Well, uh… yeah. See ya." And with a wave, Jack walked off of the property.

Claire watched him until he turned the corner into town. She scratched her head, wondering why he seemed so familiar. Then, not being able to figure it out, she dismissed the thought and decided to explore her new surroundings.

After crossing a bridge, she passed into the forest. Coming through the trees, she noticed a clearing a short ways away, and stepped into it. She saw a somewhat middle-aged, burly main in a plain white t-shirt and jeans inspecting logs by a small cabin-like building. She stood watching him as he gently studied the rings in one of the stumps, and smiled when, as he looked up, he noticed her staring at him. He hardly showed any surprise.

"Well, hello there. I haven't seen you around these parts. The name's Gotz, and I'm the carpenter here in Mineral Town. And you are?" His voice was gruff, but it did not sound unkind in the least.

"Claire," she said, shaking his hand. "I'm the new farmer here."

"I see. Well, welcome to Mineral Town, Claire. You'll be the talk of the town these next few days, but it'll die out. But for now, I have to get to work." He gestured vaguely to the forest behind him, and Claire nodded.

"Okay, I'd better be going to town, anyway. It was nice meeting you, Gotz! I'll try to come and visit at a better time." Gotz only smiled in response, and went on his way. Claire turned around and skipped through her farm. Giving her new puppy—whom she still had yet to name—a quick pat on the head, she wandered into town, excited to meet the people she would soon be sharing her life with.


	3. Chapter 3

"There's a girl, Anya," Jack murmured to his gray mare, whom Barley had given to him two years before. She whinnied softly at him, and butted her nose to his chest, making him smile.

Jack felt contemplative in that moment in time. He had just gone into town after leaving Claire when he saw Ann stomp out of the inn in a rage, muttering darkly and walking quickly toward the hot springs. Stepping into the inn, he was met with a scene he hadn't quite been expecting. The two tables nearest to the door were knocked over, their chairs beside them on the ground. Both Cliff and Doug were staring at the door in astonishment, obviously shocked by Ann's sudden rage. At Jack's entrance, Doug shook himself, but still had a look of distress on his face.

"Hello, Jack. What can I get you today?" he asked, trying to mask his worry for his only daughter. Cliff was still staring at the door.

Jack shook his head. "Nothing, Doug, thanks." Cliff let out a small sigh and trudged up the stairs, with hardly a farewell to the other men. Once he was out of earshot, Jack asked quietly, "What happened?"

Doug sighed heavily. "Ann just got upset again because of Cliff's… situation. We'd all been trying to figure out a solution, but all of us were too stubborn to accept decisions which required any extra work on the others' parts. I'd thought that I might have been able to take Cliff to work at the inn, but Ann wasn't having it. She didn't want to see Cliff working in a place she knew he wouldn't want to work. And Cliff wouldn't accept our other offer to allow him to stay on for free. We both would like to have him here, of course, but Cliff is always thinking of others. A kind young man he is, that Cliff. Sometimes too much so…"

Jack had helped to pick up the fallen chairs and tables, and then left to leave Doug to his ponderings. The streets of Mineral Town were quiet, with hardly a soul wandering around. Taking a left from the inn, Jack wandered up to visit the Harvest Sprites. He needed help with his crops.

"Why hello, Jack, budum!" Chef had greeted him enthusiastically. "What can we do for you today? We are always happy to help you, budum!"

Jack smiled at the petite people. "Thanks guys. Could a couple of you help to water the plants for me for the next week? I've been kind of busy with my other errands." Aqua, Staid, and Bold let out a shout and threw their sparkles in the air in joy. They were always the watering sprites, for they were the best at it. Once they were officially enlisted, Jack wandered back into the town. He strolled along in thought, hardly knowing where he was going. He looked up suddenly after he bumped into someone. The other person, who he found to be Gray, only chuckled.

"In deep thought, are you, Jack? Usually you're a bit more alert than this." Gray smirked at him.

Jack smirked back. "Usually you're not walking down the street in this particular area at this time," Jack said, gesturing to the library and Ellen's house, which were just around the corner. "What are you up to, hm?"

A slight blush entered Gray's cheeks. "Uh, well," he stammered, "Mary invited me to read some books…" Jack grinned then, and patted Gray's shoulder as he went past him on his way.

When Jack walked past the winery, he heard a shout come from inside the store house. Suddenly, the door of the building swung open with a bang, and Manna came running out in a panic. "Jack! Please, come help! Duke just got an awful stomachache and dropped the keg of wine he was holding and all of a sudden," he voice rose dramatically here, "ALL of them came tumbling down! I swear, that man does much too much for his age with all his competitions at the inn with drinking contests and pie eating contests and regular eating contests, and sometimes I swear he has money spending contests! And the awful things he keeps doing with the heavy barrels of wine and grapes and I can never know what to do with him! And he always has to keep making our tab at the inn go up and up and up and never does anything about it! He's an irresponsible man if there ever was one, but I love him dearly, even if he can be a bit stupid sometimes. I think that—Cliff!" The other young man had just walked out of the inn, looking as if he were about to go to the church. "Cliff, Cliff, Cliff! We need your help! Duke just had an awful stomachache and dropped the keg of wine he was holding and all of a sudden—"

Jack interrupted her as she took a deep breath, before she could go on her ramble again, "What Manna's trying to say is they need help with heavy lifting." Cliff nodded seriously, and walked over quickly. The three went into the storage building of the winery, where Duke was doubled over on the ground, holding his stomach tightly. Manna rushed over to him and spoke to him endlessly as Duke grimaced.

Jack and Cliff nodded to each other and set to putting the fallen barrels to rights. Jack was straining to lift his ends of the barrels, but Cliff seemed to be working effortlessly. After the two men had lifted about five barrels back into place, Jack noticed that Manna had stopped talking. Since this was such a rare occurrence, Jack looked up and stared at the mistress of the winery. Both she and Duke were staring at Cliff. The two looked at each other, back to Cliff, and then at each other again. Together, they developed slow smiles.

Jack found himself with a small smile as well.

Duke cleared his throat loudly, and Cliff looked up from lifting another barrel. "Say, Cliff," Duke said, smiling, "what would you say if I offered you a job, here at the winery? Manna would agree when I say I'm getting a bit old to do all of this heavy lifting, and you certainly seem fit for the job. What do you say? You'd get a good pay, too."

Cliff was wide-eyed. "W-work? Here, at the winery?" he stammered. After staring at the couple for a few more seconds, he started to nod vigorously. He rushed forward and pumped Duke's hand. "Yes! Yes, of course! I'd love to work here! Thank you!" He threw his arms out and pulled Duke and Manna both into a large hug, laughing gleefully. Jack found himself laughing as well. When Manna was finally released from Cliff's hold, she jumped up and down.

"Oh! I can't wait to tell all of the ladies! They will be oh so excited, and then I can go and tell Trent and Jeff and Carter and Lillia and Barley and—"

Duke clamped his hand over her mouth and smiled as Manna, voice muffled, continued to list all of the villagers to herself. "Thank you, boys. Cliff, just come by tomorrow at 10 and we'll talk, okay?"

As Cliff and Jack walked out of the store room, they heard Manna squeal, "AND THE HARVEST SPRITES!" followed by a quick shush from Duke. After a solid handshake, the two men went on their own ways, shaking their heads and laughing at the antics of the mistress of Aja's Winery.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, Claire!" Popuri caught up to the yellow-haired farmer in the middle of Rose Square, laughing childishly and linking her arms with the woman. "Hi Claire!" the young woman said happily. "Where are you going?"

Claire smiled in return to her bubbly friend, and replied, "I'm just headed to the church right now. I figured I could use some of my own time after the week I've been having, what with moving in and clearing up my field to decency."

"Oh, wonderful! I'm headed there myself! I always go to the church on Sunday. Carter is so nice to talk to. He's the pastor of the church. Oh! And Cliff is usually there, too! He's awfully shy but he can be so sweet once you get him talking a little. I think he and Ann like each other," Popuri said, lowering her voice conspiratorially. Claire found herself smiling again, and joined in when Popuri started skipping down the street happily. Sasha, Karen's mother, was headed down the road toward Rose Square, and smiled warmly at the happy pair. It was a common sight to see joy walking the streets of Mineral Town.

Claire stopped short as she walked to the front of the church. She noticed a small side-path to the right of the building, and dragged Popuri with her as she moved to stand in front of it, gazing down the narrow pathway.

Popuri giggled, pulling Claire back to the door of the church, and opened the door. "That's only the path to the Harvest Sprites, Claire. You can meet them on your own later. They're so cute!" Upon walking into the church, Popuri exclaimed, "Hi, Carter! How are you today?"

Carter looked up, a small pair of reading glasses resting on his nose. His face lit up in a kind smile. "Hello, Popuri. Claire. I'm doing well, thank you, Popuri. How are you ladies doing?"

Popuri exclaimed about how she was doing well, as were Rick and Lillia, her brother and mother. Claire smiled and said she was pretty decent. Popuri looked around the church, and her eyes grew worried. "Carter, where's Cliff? I wanted Claire to meet him…"

Carter's smile widened. "You haven't heard then? Our Cliff got a job at the winery! He was so joyful and told me about it straight away. It turns out that he and Jack had helped Duke and Manna yesterday evening at the winery, and they hired him on! He's there right now."

"Oh! That's wonderful! That means he can stay in Mineral Town!" Popuri's eyes grew Bambi-like, and she clasped her hands together happily. Turning to Carter and Claire in turn, she said, "I'm sure Ann is very happy," while nodding matter-of-factly at them.

Carter chuckled. "I'm sure the whole town is very happy about this. Although Cliff can be quiet, he's well liked by everyone in our home. Now, since you two are already here, would you care to hear my sermon?" he asked them eagerly, holding the book he kept at his podium. Both girls nodded, and he smiled and bent to his book, pushing his glasses up his nose. Flipping to the story he wanted, he cleared his throat and began. "This is the story of a perfectly normal family…"

--

Popuri glanced at Claire as they walked out of the church. The farmer was curiously quiet, and didn't look up even as the high noon sun struck their faces.

_I wonder if an alarm clock would have woken him… Things would make so much more sense if one had. I would know so much more…_ Claire thought. She waved absently to Popuri, who shrugged and went on her way. Claire sat on the bench between the Supermarket and the Clinic. She sighed. _Who am I kidding? Nothing would have helped. Even if he did live he probably wouldn't tell me a thing._

She felt the weight of someone else's body press upon the bench. Looking up, she gasped and jumped up, not expecting to be looking into the laughing eyes of Jack, her fellow farmer. The smile he was wearing turned to concern.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he said apologetically, "I didn't think you'd be so surprised."

Claire shook her head, "Oh, no. Don't worry about it. I just wasn't expecting it, is all." She sat back down. "How are you, Jack?"

He nodded. "I'm doing alright. But I am curious as to why you're sitting outside the Supermarket looking so serious. You would've thought that you had a death wish for the cobblestone right there." He pointed at the ground she had been staring at so intently, a grin adorning his features.

"I… I'd rather not talk about it. But don't worry, I'm fine." Jack saw the cloud that came over her rainstorm eyes, and decided not to push any further. Claire stood up suddenly. "I'd better get going. I've wasted enough time as it is, and I've only been here a week! I need to get a move on if I want my farm to be as successful as your has been," she said, and winked.

Jack burst out laughing. "Sure, sure. But, uh, one second." Claire looked at him curiously. Jack pulled out a box from behind him. "Well, ah, today is the Spring Thanksgiving Festival. I figured since you're still pretty new here you might not know some of the guys, and… well, I thought you might like to participate. Here." He handed the box to her stiffly.

Claire looked down at it, her eyes wide. "Oh… thank you. But… what do I do?"

Jack chuckled. "You don't have to do anything. Not today, at least. Today is just a day when the guys give cookies to the girls they… well, to the girls," he said hastily; a reddish tint was entering his cheeks. "Just check out your calendar and you'll see all of the things on all of the festivals. Well, see ya!" He rushed away.

Claire stared after the man, a bit taken aback by his sudden departure, and looked back down at the box. She opened the pretty wrapping and discovered that there were cookies inside. She smiled, and headed back to her farm.


End file.
